The UC Riverside community is invited to learn about the importance of food security, the effects of food scarcity on the environment and the connections of food to our communities during the inaugural Global Food Security Week, which runs from May 9-15.
All activities are free and open to the public. Scheduled events include informative lectures and discussions, a documentary screening, a farm tour and a dance party.
On Monday, May 9, the campus community will answer the question, “What does ‘food security’ really mean?” at the Food Security Forum. Held at the Highlander Union Building (HUB), Room 269, at 5 p.m., the forum will be featuring experts from a wide variety of disciplines to facilitate the discussions and provide insight through their work with food security locally and abroad. The discussion facilitators are: Philip A. Roberts, professor of nematology; Maria Munoz-Amatriain, assistant project scientist; Hideaki Tsutsui, assistant professor of mechanical engineering; Grecia Marquez, coordinator of R’Pantry; and Steven M. Helfand, professor of economics. Refreshments will be provided.
On Tuesday, May 10, a documentary screening of the film, “Seeds of Time” (2013), will take place at the R’Garden (Lot 30) at 7:30 p.m. The movie follows agriculture pioneer Cary Fowler’s global journey to protect the foundation of the United States’ food supply in a new era of climate change. Participants are encouraged to bring a blanket.
On Wednesday, May 11, a follow-up discussion on the “Seeds of Time” (2013) documentary will take place at 5 p.m. in the Interdisciplinary South Building (INTS), Room 1121. The discussion will be facilitated by a panel of UC Riverside’s Global Food Initiative student fellows, Holly Mayton, Melina Reyes and Claudia Villegas. After the discussion, the fellows will discuss their projects on food safety, food security and sustainable agriculture. Refreshments will be provided.
On Thursday, May 12, the lecture, “Tipping Point for Planet Earth – How Close are We to the Edge?,” is happening at 5:30 p.m. in Rooms D-E, UC Riverside Extension Center, 1200 University Ave., Riverside. Anthony D. Barnosky, a professor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley, and Elizabeth A. Hadly, a professor of biology at Stanford University, will explain the growing threats to humanity as Earth edges towards a resource war for remaining space, food, energy and water.
On Saturday, May 14, from 3:30 p.m. to sunset, UC Riverside’s community garden, R’Garden, will be hosting the Dig N’ Dance, a fun and informative event to highlight and raise awareness around food, the environment and its connection to the Riverside community. Live music, speakers, informational booths and the local band Quita Penas will be featured. There will also be workshops on composting and vegetable gardening by the Master Composters and Master Gardeners of Riverside County.
Finally, a farm tour will take place on Sunday, May 15, from 1 to 6 p.m. The UC Riverside community will have the opportunity to visit three locations in Riverside (Fox Farm, The Grove Farm and Unity Farms) that will showcase the local food system and explore the topic of food justice. Translation of the tour will be available in Spanish and snacks as well as a light dinner will be provided. Participants will meet at Lot 30.
The week of events was made possible through collaboration with UC Riverside’s Global Issues Forum, R’Garden, R’Pantry, University Honors and the University of California Global Food Initiative.
